What has drawn you to
writing for the YA market?
I think that teenagers today are part of one of the most
exciting generations I can imagine. They have access to the Gospel like no
generation before them, and they have the resources that are unprecedented to
reach others worldwide. They’re hungry for truth, and they’re willing to go
“all in” when they find it. They’re not sleepwalking on their way to church.
They’re eighteen and already thinking about their legacies. I couldn’t be more
honored to write for them.
What is the quirkiest
thing you have ever done?
When I was in college, I co-hosted a talk show on our
student radio station. It was actually called “Love Talk,” and we acted like we
were experts and dished out advice. I think most of my sage advice amounted to
“call her” or “dump him.”
When did you first
discover that you were a writer?
I have always had
to write. I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t writing, but it took me many
years before I tried to become a published author. When I was younger, I never
seriously considered pursuing the dream because I figured that only truly great
writers had any right to go for it, and I mean great in the sense of Steinbeck
or Updike.
I know I don’t come close to those masters of the craft, but
the Lord helped me let go of perfectionism and pursue this thing. He was
faithful when I wasn’t, and I believe that’s because He gave me the dream in
the first place.
I remember many years ago when I prayed because I couldn’t
afford a laptop computer, and it was stifling my writing. Days later I received
a used one for free. It was an incredible gift not only because I needed it,
but because I realized that just maybe I didn’t invent this dream on my own. I
began to accept the very humbling idea that writing might not only be my dream,
but it might be His calling on my life. And so over the past several years I took
my dream off the shelf where I had been keeping it “safe” I placed it all at
His feet. Personally, that was a big moment for me. I knew He could take it
away entirely. I knew that just being called to something doesn’t mean you’ll
be successful in the world’s terms. But I didn’t want to spend my life holding
on to a dream if it wasn’t what He wanted, and I didn’t want to hide from it if
it was what He gave me.
Tell us the range of
the kinds of books you enjoy reading.
I love Christian apologetics books like The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel because they’re what brought me
to understand the faith more completely. I love Christian fiction and right now
I’m reading Jordyn Redwood’s Proof.
I also love books that make me see the human condition in a
new way. Jonathan Franzen and Chris Cleave are amazing contemporary authors on
that front. Sometimes when I read them I want to applaud, but usually I’m just
saying, “Wow. Wow.” They went for it. They did their best to show truth. Even
if I don’t agree with everything an author writes, I appreciate the work when
he’s going after truth. It allows me to see the story of humanity from someone
else’s eyes. And it reminds me of how grateful I am to be a Christian because I
know that the story of the human condition does end in hope. Awesome hope in
Christ.
What other books have
you written?
My first novel, called Twin,
got a second pass at a major publishing house, but it ultimately didn’t make
the cut. At the time, I was simply thrilled for the consideration.
How do you keep your
sanity in our run, run, run world?
Quiet time with the Lord is the most important thing I do in
any given day. He never fails.
What is the
accomplishment that you are most proud of, besides family?
I ran the Army Ten-Miler in Washington , D.C. ,
which for me was a difficult task! I hope to do it again one day.
If you were an
animal, which one would you be, and why?
Anything but a cat.
What is your favorite
food?
Mexican!
Is it hard to break
into the YA market?
It’s a growing market, and I believe publishing houses are
looking for fresh voices that understand they’re competing for a young adult’s
attention in the face of some fascinating distractions, even if its MTV or the
latest YouTube video. That doesn’t mean we dumb down our work. It means we have
to raise our game.
What advice would you
give to an author wanting to do that?
Most importantly, writers write. You should always be
writing and developing new work. I set a weekly word goal when drafting my
novel, and it was a great tool to stay focused. Second, writers share. If you
are unpublished, get into writing critique groups and let them offend you! Give
your work to people who aren’t your friends, and start submitting to agents,
journals, contests. If you can afford to go to a writer’s conference like ACFW,
I would highly recommend it. You’ll gain feedback and be able to grow from the
experience. I promise that your work will never “feel” ready enough. Sometimes
you just have to press send.
What would you like
to tell us about the featured book?
Like Moonlight at Low Tide is the story of what comes after
you’ve been bullied. What if you finally get everything you ever wanted? This
is a young adult book, but many adult readers have told me that they loved the
story. I think many of us have things that we’ve believed about ourselves for
years, whether because we were bullied or for other reasons, and this is a
story about seeing those things with new eyes.
Please share the
first page with us.
People never ask me the right question when they ask me what
happened the beginning of my senior year. They always ask what his last words
were. They figure he would have had great
ones, the kind that would haunt a girl and echo off of empty
lockers long after graduation. They wait breathlessly for me to describe the
moment he jumped off the boat and into the glass-topped Gulf, cutting the
ribbon of moonlight on the surface with the white of his arms.
“Surely he was trying to kill himself,” they’d say. “Why
else would he leap into the water without the hope of rescue?”
And so I tell them what they earnestly hope to hear. How I
searched desperately for the bob of his head in the water. How I jumped in
myself, swimming fifteen feet until I felt the absence of
the boat behind me, the vessel leaning away from the edge of
the bay and into the dark, magnetic waters of the deep. They want to hear how
hard it was to make my way back to the boat, and how, by then, the storm was
beginning to unleash its rage. They want to hear how I scoured the cabinets for
a radio and failed. How I searched for a flare gun but found no rescue.
And when I tell them of all of these things, they never ask
— and I never mention — that I did all of them in complete silence.
The truth is, he said nothing before he jumped. And I never
called his name, not once. I knew that he had plunged into that water so that
he could not be found.
When the sheriff pulled his boat next to mine, he spoke the
first words I had heard in hours. He lifted me from beneath the captain’s
console, where I had waited with my knees tucked under my chin. That was the
evening Hurricane Paul swept through our state.
This story is not about suicide. But you should know that
when I was seventeen, the only boy who ever called me by my full name took his
own life. It was the first time I ever saw a mistake that was permanent, that
couldn’t be undone with whiteout or atoned for with an after-school detention.
Nothing else I do for the rest of my life will ever be able to change this
fact.
This story is actually about three boys. One who loved me.
One who couldn’t. And one who didn’t know how.
My name is Melissa Keiser, and I was raised on Anna Maria
Island, Florida.
The best description of the place I can provide you is a
temperature: eighty degrees. It is not always eighty degrees on the island, but
the humidity looming off the white foam of the Gulf
of Mexico combined with the faint, sickly sweet emission
from the orange juice factory always seems to make the place feel like it’s
been wrapped in a warm blanket, just soft enough to make you feel safe or
sleepy, but always feel slow if you tried to move too much within its folds. In
truth, it is the most beautiful beach town I have ever seen. And then the
breeze comes and reality finds you hiding behind a sand dune.
The Anna Maria I’m writing of is not the same island that
you would see if you went online and searched the images posted by Yankee
tourists and gray-haired Canadians. Those visitors love the island as much as
anyone who has never suffered here can.
How can readers find
you on the Internet?
I’m on www.nicolequigleybooks.com
, and I’m on Facebook at www.facebook.com/nicolequigleybooks.
I would love to hear any feedback on the book because I’m always trying to grow
as a writer.Thank you, Nicole, for sharing your book with us today.
Readers, here are links to the book. By using one when you order, you help support this blog.
Like Moonlight at Low Tide: Sometimes the Current Is the Only Thing that Saves You - paperback
Like Moonlight at Low Tide: Sometimes the Current Is the Only Thing that Saves You - Kindle
Leave a comment for a chance to win a free copy of the book. Please tell us where you live, at least the state or territory. (Comments containing links may be subject to removal by blog owner.)
Void where prohibited; the odds of winning depend on the number of entrants. Entering the giveaway is considered a confirmation of eligibility on behalf of the enterer in accord with these rules and any pertaining local/federal/international laws.
The only notification you’ll receive is the winner post on this blog. So be sure to check back a week from Saturday to see if you won. You will have 4 weeks from the posting of the winners to claim your book.
If you’re reading this on Feedblitz, Facebook, or Amazon, please come to the blog to leave your comment if you want to be included in the drawing. Here’s a link.
Http://lenanelsondooley.blogspot.com
24 comments:
Great interview, Nicole! Being a young adult myself, I appreciate authors like you. I can't wait to read your book!! :D
Rosie from OH
That first page has me hooked already! I love the dialogue and the mood. (& it doesn't hurt that it's set in Florida. I was raised there!)
from the black hills of SD
Rosie, thanks so much! I hope you'll send me some feedback on Facebook or Good Reads so I can see what you thought of it! Keep reading, sister!
LadySaotome, thank you, fellow Florida gal! I would love to see SD one day. I imagine that was quite a change!
I've been bullied throughout my life. This sounds interesting, please enter me! Amada, NM
Nicole's writing is a page burner. I was disappointed that Twin didn't get published but thankful I could read a rough draft. So excited that her writing is out there for the rest of the world!
Please enter me! :) I loved the first page. I'm from NC.
Katie G.
Amada, I am so sorry to hear that. I hope this book is a blessing to you. As the Word says, those who look to the Lord are radiant. Their faves are never covered with shame. What an amazing fact, no matter what others say.
Katie, thank you! If you want to read more, you can find the first 18 pages on amazon or my site. :)
Anne, how I appreciate your encouragement! Thank you, friend. ;)
Amada, so sorry. That should have read "Their faces are never covered with shame." That's what happens when I post from my phone, I guess. ;)
This sounds like a book my niece would really enjoy
cheryl in il
I would love to read this book.
California
lkish77123 at gmail dot com
Wow! The first page is awesome. Can't wait to read the book!
It's an exciting time for YA. So many amazing works on offer.
I enjoyed the first page of LIKE MOONLIGHT AT LOW TIDE thank you.
Mary P
QLD AUSTRALIA
Moonlight at Low Tide sounds very interesting. Thanks for the chance to read it.
Beth from Iowa
This is going to be a powerful book. The first page drew me in. I would love to win a copy of this book.
Blessings!
Judy B from Indiana
sounds like a wonderful book thanks for chance to win
live in ND
ABreading4fun [at] gmail [dot] com
Karen from NYC
I would love to read this book...sounds very interesting.Thanks...Jackie Tessnair fromN.C.
Enter me!!
Sharon Richmond
Blanch,NC.
This sounds really interesting! I'm from MN.
Thank you, all, for sharing in the excitement about the book! It is so great to share this story with readers across the U.S., and what a thrill it is to meet a reader from Australia! I hope you have had a lovely weekend!
This sounds really great, I'd love to win!
Liz R in AL
Please enter me in the drawing. Thanks! Portsmouth, VA
I was bullied in high school so I can relate. I was shocked though because one day a few years later the bully actually came and apologized to me! I was beyond stunned. I guess he matured. It was really amazing. Now it is even worse for kids because of cell phone (think camera) and internet (go viral) and social networking (Facebook and Twitter). Things have really changed. And I'm only 34. Sigh. I'm from Ohio. kristiedonelson(at)gmail(dot)com Thank you.
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